Well, Stan, Chuck and Don having processed 4TC1s through their respective shops so expediently, I am trying to speed things along here too.... the grip safety (Wilson) is fitted. I have fitted a second trigger, so between the medium and short ones the new owner should be covered; same with the thumb safeties, one ambi and one not (80% fitted at this time).
The two original magazine and the three Tripp 7-rounders provided by Tripp Research, I have TIG'd the floor plates on and trimmed the welds off. This is just a knock-proofing measure.
Last night I got the Dawson Rail on. I never felt that three 6-32 screws was the best possible mounting for these, as 32 threads per inch is pretty coarse when a screw is that small. In my toolmaking days, I never used 6-32 since that is about the easiest tap to break and the screws are not as strong for their size as, say, a 5-40 or 8-32. On guns, finer threads are better, especially in a this area like the dust cover.... in the past I've screwed and silver-brazed these rails on, which is a good solution but a lot of work. What I've been doing most recently, and what I've done on 4TC1s, is to go from 6-32's to 8-36's (only because I could not find 8-40's). I get them good and tight, leaving them protruding into the inside of the dust cover, then I peen the end of the screw over before trimming it off. Very strong and the screws "ain't going nowhere". The rail was rocking a little bit on the dustcover surface and I did not want to stress anything when I torqued it down so I spotted it in with Prussian blue.
Starting on sights today. I will install the rear and use the original front for initial test firing, so that I know just where the new front sight needs to be. That way I don't get any surprises like having to live with a front sight that is too high or too low.
The plunger tube has been TIG'd in place. It also "ain't going nowhere", at least not without the rest of the gun
Chuck was kind enough to Golfball a Nowlin mag release for me, to match his front and backstrap work. I usually use the Nowlin part here because it's good quality and comes with the spring and catch lock, although they use a very weak spring and I always replace it with a Colt or Wilson part. They are slightly extended which makes them good for applying a different pattern as in this case.
Oh yeah-- I have also textured the back of the slide and three extractors, and the extractors are numbered and serial-matched to the pistol.
And-- SureFire has confirmed that the package now includes an X200 light!
http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_ ... /sesent/00